Bitdefender Vs Malwarebytes | The Ultimate Battle [2020]

(Last updated on February 19th, 2020)

Bitdefender or Malwarebytes, which software is a better option in 2020?

Read this ultimate, data-driven comparison to make a smart decision.

In this ultimate (and comprehensive) guide, you’ll see the security products both companies offer (and the features/tools included in them), as well as how they stack up against each other regarding malware protection, system performance, user interface, cost, and more.

Do you know the AV-Test institute registers over 350,000 new malware samples every single day? In the modern, technology-driven world, a reliable antivirus suite has become more of a commodity.

A study conducted by CNN found that the average American spends nearly half a day — 10 hours, to be exact — staring at a screen, with computers and mobile phones among the two most used devices.

The digital freedom we cherish comes at a cost.

Hackers are continually surfacing more and more malicious codes (also called “malware”) every day that can do a lot of horrible things, such as corrupt your system, compromise your data/files, breach your privacy, steal your banking details, etc.

And contrary to popular perception, it’s not just the viruses that you need to protect yourself against – there’re countless malware threats out there in the wild, such as ransomware, worms, Trojan horses, and more (all collectively called “malware).

And experts say that even if you follow all the best practices online, your computer can still get infected by malware.

So it makes sense to say that you should invest in a premium security suite to stay protected at all times.

Important Note

Best Antivirus Suite for 2020

(All the best security products examined)

Editors' Choice Award Winner

Overall Score: 9.9/10

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During the past few months, we examined and reviewed over 50 antivirus suites from the biggest names in cybersecurity. We did this so you can confidently choose the best antivirus software to protect yourself and those you love. Overall, Bitdefender is our #1 antivirus software for 2020, because of its excellent, flawless performance in all the recent independent lab evaluations we considered, particularly those conducted by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. Right now, we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 60% off) is the best antivirus package available in the market. Apart from providing excellent anti-malware protection, it offers all the advanced premium features and utilities that must be there in a high-end package -- and best of all, it offers excellent value for money. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just one subscription. If you need protection for more than five devices, we highly recommend Bitdefender Family Pack 2020. It will cover all the internet-capable devices in your household with the Total Security suite, so your family will be protected no matter what goes wrong.

First, let’s look at the security products that both Bitdefender and Malwarebytes offer.

Bitdefender Antivirus Suites

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition (Windows only)

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus (Windows only)

Bitdefender Internet Security (Windows only)

Bitdefender Total Security (Windows & Mac)

Bitdefender Family Pack (Windows & Mac)

Virus Scanner (Mac only)

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac (Mac only)

Malwarebytes Antivirus Suites

Malwarebytes Free (for Windows & Mac)

Malwarebytes Premium (for Windows & Mac)

If you don’t want to go through this detailed comparison and want the answer straightaway, take a look at the graphic below and also read our short verdict to make your mind.

Short Verdict

Bitdefender is the winner as it offers more security-enhancing features and extra utilities in its security suites than Malwarebytes. Also, independent tests prove that Bitdefender is better than Malwarebytes in terms of both malware detection and the impact on system performance.

Our recommendations: If you want to get the highest level of security and performance, there's no better choice than Bitdefender, which protects over 500 million devices worldwide. We have reviewed, ranked, and rated all the best antivirus software products out there, and we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package you can buy right now. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just a single subscription of this suite. If you need protection for more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2020 is the best option for you. Looking for Mac-specific protection? Check out Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac for complete peace of mind.

Now, let’s start off the detailed comparison…

What is Included in Bitdefender’s Antivirus Suites?

Bitdefender offers a separate lineup of products for Windows and MacOS. First, let’s delve into the products that are compatible with the Windows platform.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free is the company’s bare-bones free antivirus product. It offers limited malware protection and doesn’t include any advanced security-related features and extra utility tools. However, protection against phishing attacks and fraudulent websites is incorporated into the freeware.

Next level up is Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019. Along with top-notch malware protection, it includes a password manager (stores all your passwords at one place for secure, hassle-free logins), a hardened browser (for safe online banking/shopping), and a file shredding utility (lets you delete your sensitive files so no one can recover them). An extra layer of ransomware protection is also included in the “Plus” suite.

Bitdefender Total Security 2019 is the company’s top-of-the-line (and most popular) antivirus suite. Along with everything that is part of the “Internet Security” suite, you’ll get several performance optimization features, such as OneClick Optimizer, Disk Cleanup, and Startup Optimizer, along with a useful anti-theft module (helps you find lost/stolen devices).

A fully-fledged parental control filter and a limited VPN are also included in the “Total Security” suite.

You can protect up to 5 Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS devices with a single license of the “Total Security” suite.

Out of all the top-drawer antivirus suites we have reviewed from different brands, Bitdefender Total Security 2019 is perhaps the best in terms of value for money.

If you want protection for all the devices in your household, go with Bitdefender Family Pack 2019. It protects an unlimited number of Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices and boasts all the features/tools that are jammed into the “Total Security” suite.

What is Included in Malwarebytes’ Antivirus Suites?

Malwarebytes Free (only compatible with Windows platform) is the company’s free anti-malware product. I wouldn’t recommend it as it offers no real-time (or on-access) protection against malware attacks; it is just a “disinfection tool” which is only capable of removing malware that has already infected your system.

Malwarebytes Premium is the company’s paid-for security product. Along with providing real-time protection against all sorts of malware threats, it offers online security (protects against malicious websites), a powerful anti-exploit module, and also protects your sensitive files from ransomware.

The “Premium” version is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Android. Also, it comes at different price points depending on the numbers of devices you want to protect.

There is no antivirus (or anti-malware) product without the malware protection engine.

Malware is an umbrella term used for a range of threats, such as viruses, spyware, ransomware, worms, etc.

Generally, all malware can be classified into two types: known malware (widespread malware) and unknown malware (or zero-day malware). The former kind of malware is relatively more straightforward to catch as it is already widespread (or known), which means it can be detected using traditional signature-based scanning (comparing suspected files against a massive library of definition files). The latter type of malware is much more difficult catch as no previous signatures are available for it.

AV-Test and AV-Comparatives are two renowned security labs that regularly (and thoroughly) examine the performance of various top antivirus products.

Bitdefender’s performance was excellent in the most recent AV-Test evaluations, which were conducted on Windows 10 platform in May and June 2018. In the ‘Protection’ category, Bitdefender registered perfect results; it blocked 100% of both widespread and zero-day malware samples in both months, earning 6/6 stars from the AV-Test experts. (See this link if interested in detailed results.)

The experts at AV-Comparatives do Malware Protection Test and Real-World Protection Test to gauge the protection level of different antivirus products. The latter test exposes a product to real-world malware conditions (as experienced by users), while the former test examines the comprehensiveness of a security product’s on-demand and on-access scanning engines.

Bitdefender received the highest ADVANCED+ award in both tests, due to near-perfect malware detection rates and low false positive score.

***false positive refers to the case where a software wrongly classifies a clean file as malicious.

On the other hand, Malwarebytes does not participate in the independent lab tests for a few reasons. The primary reason being that its specialty lies in crushing zero-day malware – a type of malware that is never encountered before. It is not so good when it comes to detecting malware that had originated several years ago.

So, a test that uses dated malware samples to gauge the protection level may make Malwarebytes look bad. And that’s one of the reasons why the company doesn’t participate in the independent lab tests.

Also, Malwarebytes encourages users to use its product alongside a traditional signature-matching antivirus product to stay protected from both widespread and zero-day malware.

Bitdefender emerges as a clear in this category as it provides top-notch protection against all sorts of malware threats.

Winner: Bitdefender

Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes: Which Software Puts Less Impact on System Performance?

Another important consideration is the impact a security product puts on system performance (or computer speed).

To be able to provide real-time protection against malware threats, a security product has to continuously run in the background, just like other computer programs. If a product occupies a lot of system resources, you may have to deal with system performance issues (or computer slowdowns).

Now, let’s see how both products fared in the most recent independent Performance Tests.

AV-Test’s Performance Test looked at the average influence of a product on computer speed while carrying out common computer operations, such as copying of files, downloading & installing applications, visiting websites, etc. The impact each product caused was calculated in terms slowdown on a standard and a high-end PC.

Bitdefender received a perfect performance score of 6/6 from the AV-Test experts.

The experts at AV-Comparatives do a similar study; they evaluated the impact a product exerts on system performance while executing few everyday computer tasks, such as archiving/unarchiving, copying of files, visit websites, lunching/installing applications, etc.

Bitdefender once again received the highest ADVANCED+ award from the experts, due to its low impact score of 4.1.

Malwarebytes – as mentioned earlier — does not participate in the independent tests so no comparison can be drawn between both software in this category.

Bitdefender’s interface simple, stylish and modern – in colors of white, black and grey. There is a vertical menu on the left with following items: Protection, Privacy, Tools, Activity, Notifications, Account, Settings, and Support.

Protection window is where you land on when you open the interface. You see your protection status on the left, along with links to run a Quick Scan or a Vulnerability Scan. You’ll also find status tiles for Bitdefender’s app protection, file protection, and web protection features. A toggle switch for Bitdefender useful Auto-Pilot feature (takes optimal security decisions on its own, without bothering you) is also available on the window.

Privacy and Tools pages contain relevant features and their settings. The rest of the tabs are very much self-explanatory.

The name of the suite you’re subscribed to is displayed in the top bar, while the bottom bar tells you about the number of devices you can protect under your suite and how many are protected. There’s also an ‘Add Computer’ link in the bottom bar which takes you the Bitdefender’s online portal.

Now, let’s see the Malwarebytes’s interface.

Malwarebytes’ user interface is modern and intuitive, in shades of white, blue and grey. There is a vertical menu on the left with the Dashboard, Scan, Quarantine, Reports, and Settings modules.

Dashboard window is the default view where you see your protection status and also run a scan with just one click. On the left, you’ll see the status of different modules, such as web protection, exploit protection, along with your protection history and last scan details.

Scan window lets you run different types of advanced scans, namely Threats Scan, Custom Scan, and Hyper Scan. Suspicious files are placed under quarantine folder for review. Report and Setting are self-explanatory.

At the bottom left, there is a ‘Why Premium’ button which takes to the tour of Malwarebytes Premium.

The name of the plan you’re subscribed to is displayed in the top bar.

Overall, it can be said that both software provide a simple and easy to use interface.

Unlike Bitdefender, Malwarebytes does not offer a range of security suites so no comparison can be drawn in this category.

Winner: No comparison can be drawn

Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes: Which Software is More Popular?

Let’s find out which of the two software is more popular.

Bitdefender claims to protect “over 500 million users worldwide,” while Malwarebytes says over 290,000 download its technology every day.

I will look at the independent market share reports and the popularity of both software on social media to declare a winner in this category.

OPSWAT releases independent monthly reports on the market share of leading antivirus companies. According to their July 2018 report, Avast currently dominates the market with an impressive 17.23% market share, followed by Malwarebytes (13.09%) and McAfee (11.85%). Bitdefender stands fifth on the list with a market share of 8.23%.

Speaking of social media popularity, Bitdefender boasts 1.3 million Facebook fans and 82K Twitter followers, as opposed to the Malwarebytes’ 2 million and 50K, respectively.

It can be said that Malwarebytes is more popular than Bitdefender.

Winner: Malwarebytes

Bottom Line

In the modern, digital world, you can’t do without a premium antivirus suite. And it makes sense to say you should never take chances — especially when your security and privacy are on the line.

Get Bitdefender at 60% off today

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Overall Score: 9.9/10

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Editors Choice Award Winner

Our recommendations: After reviewing 50 antivirus suites from some of the biggest names in the cybersecurity realm, we believe that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 60% off) is the best antivirus suite for 2020 in terms of value for money. You protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, and smartphones) with a single license of this suite. Got more than five internet-capable devices? We found that Bitdefender Family Pack 2020 is the best option out there in terms of value for money. If you are still unsure, Bitdefender offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and exceptional customer support, so you there is nothing to lose.

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About The Author

Umair Anwar is an experienced freelance writer and founder of Proficient Blogging. He loves to conduct objective research and specializes in writing comprehensive software reviews and comparisons so people can make well-informed decisions. He usually talks about antivirus, VPN, online privacy, and other cybersecurity-related topics.

FTC Disclosure: Our editors maintain strict editorial integrity and review products independently, but we may earn a small commission if you buy through our links (at no extra cost to you). This helps pay our bills and make this website a free service for everyone.

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